Consumers have been warned about high commission rates charged by an Irish-based money-changing service.
Lloyds Exchange Ltd charges commission of up to 40 per cent, with a minimum fee of €200, for exchanging old Irish pounds for euro, despite the fact that the Central Bank provides this service free.
Age Action Ireland said yesterday that older people should be aware that changing old currency costs nothing in the Central Bank. "We'd say to people not to put any money to anybody offering a service that is available elsewhere for free," said Age Action's spokesman Eamon Timmins.
Brendan Burgess of Askaboutmoney.com, a financial advice website, said the Central Bank's service was quick, easy and free. "People should do this instead of paying at least €200 to someone else to do it for you. It is not a good idea in any event, to send cash in the post to anyone."
After it was contacted by The Irish Timeslast week, Lloyds said it would be reducing its fees to 10 per cent from March 1st.
The company advertised its service in a Sunday newspaper last month, and offered to donate old pound banknotes to the World Wildlife Foundation, a company registered at the same Irish address as Lloyds in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
Lloyds Exchange is a shelf company with no connection to Lloyd's of London, the well-known insurance market, or Lloyds List, the maritime insurer.
The World Wildlife Foundation, which says its aim is to preserve pumas and other wildlife in Patagonia, has no connection with the internationally recognised World Wildlife Fund.
The World Wildlife Fund confirmed to The Irish Timesit was not in any way connected to the World Wildlife Foundation or its money-exchange scheme: "We are concerned about people trying to use our name to confuse the public and would urge people who wish to contact us, or donate to our work, to do so through our official website".
Martin Pablo Leon O'Farrell, a director of World Wildlife Foundation in Argentina, said his organisation was new and had little money. "We could not get the name we wanted as they said it was gone so we got the World Wildlife Foundation [and] that is a good name."
Lloyds Exchange says it is a member of the International Currency Dealers Association. However, this body has no legal existence other than as a business name registered at the same address in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
Following queries from this newspaper, the company last week amended its website to say that fees were being reduced to 10 per cent, with a transaction minimum of £2,000, next month. It has also amended its website to provide for donations to any wildlife charity.
The firm's terms and conditions link commission levels to the amount of "time and trouble" involved in changing money. At present, rates rise from 20 per cent if the transaction is completed in 10 days to 40 per cent for transactions taking over 28 days. The minimum fee is €200.
Dan McArdle, general manager of Lloyds Exchange, said the company's usual maximum fee was 20 per cent although it allowed itself a "theoretical" higher rate which had never been charged.
Most of the company's few transactions in Ireland were for amounts of £100-£200, he said. "Most of the unredeemed pounds appear to be held in country areas where people do not often travel to Dublin and so the actual cost to them travelling to Dublin purely in order to attend at the Central Bank to change the old money is considerable in these circumstances."
However, the Central Bank also offers a postal service to customers who wish to change old pounds and are unable to come to Dublin. This service is also free.
Lloyds also exchanges other former European currencies for euros, even though many European central banks still provide this service for free.
Mr McArdle said considerable amounts of old money were still in circulation in Germany, France and Italy. "For whatever reasons there are many people who think that the old currency is without value. One man in Germany is on record as destroying 28,000 marks. How many more like this?"
The company's website promises not to divulge the identity of people changing money to tax authorities "or anyone else". It says customer information is kept in a jurisdiction where any court order obtained by tax authorities in the eurozone seeking disclosure would have no authority.
The terms also seek to limit the company's exposure to any adverse court order in Ireland to €100.
According to the Central Bank, the exchange of Irish pounds for euro does not amount to a bureau de change business requiring authorisation under legislation. It says it was unable to obtain information about the International Currency Dealers Association.
Lloyds Exchange was incorporated in the Companies Registration Office last year and has not yet filed any accounts.
The World Wildlife Foundation is a non-trading company, according to its two most recent sets of accounts.
Mr McArdle later contacted The Irish Times offering information about an unnamed Irish person allegedly laundering money through a European central bank by opening bank accounts in the names of horses. He offered to provide the name of the person involved and the country if the newspaper agreed not to write about his company.